By Andrew Mackinnon
Last updated: 27th August, 2024
A referendum should be held on abolishing Australian state and territorial governments so that only the Australian federal government and Australian local governments remain, while retaining Australian states and territories as geographic entities, referred to as “Australian territories”, in order to facilitate Australian federal governmental administration.
The buildings currently occupied by Australian state and territorial governments in the Australian states and territories and currently used by Australian state and territorial governments for Australian state and territorial governmental administration and Australian state and territorial governmental service delivery to Australian citizens in the Australian states and territories can be occupied as necessary by the Australian federal government in the Australian territories and used as necessary by the Australian federal government for Australian federal governmental administration and Australian federal governmental service delivery to Australian citizens in the Australian territories.
The existence of Australian state and territorial governments is an obstacle that prevents the Australian federal government and Australian local governments from operating effectively and efficiently in the best interests of Australian citizens.
For example, it would obviously be preferable if there was only one property titles system covering the entirety of Australia, administered by the Australian federal government, instead of a separate property titles system for each Australian state and territory, administered by each Australian state and territorial government.
It is also much easier for some 25 million Australian citizens to oppose and change the policies of the Australian federal government that they do not like, than it is for some 25 million Australian citizens to oppose and change the policies of the Australian federal government and eight Australian state and territorial governments that they do not like.
The number of federal electorates and federal elected representatives in the House of Representatives (ideally named “Forum of Representatives”) in the Australian Federal Parliament should be increased from the current 151 to circa 537, so that there is one elected representative for every Australian local government area, whose vote in the House of Representatives is weighted according to the size of the population of the Australian local government area that he or she represents.
This significant change would result in a considerable strengthening of democracy in the House of Representatives in the Australian Federal Parliament, so that it would be much more difficult for the House of Representatives to subversively produce anti-democratic outcomes by approving federal policies and laws for Australia which do not represent the majority will of Australian citizens.
The ultimate objective is to enable every Australian citizen aged eighteen years and over to vote voluntarily via the internet or via telephone on every issue that our elected representatives currently decide on our behalf, so that the majority will of Australian citizens is reflected in every issue decided in the House of Representatives.
A referendum should be held on abolishing the Senate in the Australian Federal Parliament on account of its anti-democratic nature and history of voting down federal policies and laws which a majority of elected representatives in the House of Representatives have approved.
All Australian citizens should be issued with a federal identity card which shows their photograph, full name, date of birth, address and identification number, but which contains no electronically stored data, no biometric data and no other data of any type.
A flat rate of Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 30% should be charged by the Australian federal government on all goods and services sold in Australia, including food and rent, with no exceptions apart from the obvious exception of second-hand goods, in order to facilitate efficient administration of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by Australian citizens, Australian businesses, Australian not-for-profit entities and Australian federal government entities.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) should not be charged on second-hand goods under any circumstances.
There should be no other exceptions to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) under any circumstances, including food and rent, in order to facilitate efficient administration of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by Australian citizens, Australian businesses, Australian not-for-profit entities and Australian federal government entities.
The Australian federal government should treat all Australian citizens equally via the Goods and Services Tax (GST), by charging each of them the same flat rate.
A flat rate of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) of circa 30% on all goods and services sold in Australia, including food and rent, with no exceptions apart from the obvious exception of second-hand goods, would make all Australian citizens who pay Goods and Services Tax (GST) contributors to the operation of Australia and therefore legitimate stakeholders in the Australian federal government.
All other Australian federal government taxes should be abolished, including income tax, all taxes on business profits, all taxes on capital gains, fuel tax and the Medicare levy.
All public schools in Australia, including all public primary schools and all public secondary schools, which are owned and controlled by the Australian federal government, should be funded by Goods and Services Tax (GST). The parents of the students of public schools should not pay for the students’ use of public schools in Australia, particularly because school in Australia is compulsory up until the end of Year 10 in secondary school, as far as I am aware.
All TAFE (Technical And Further Education) colleges in Australia and universities in Australia, which are owned and controlled by the Australian federal government, should be funded half by user pays and half by Goods and Services Tax (GST).
All public hospitals in Australia, which are owned and controlled by the Australian federal government, should be funded half by user pays and half by Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Local government rates for individual properties in local government areas in Australia should not be calculated on the basis of property values in local government areas in Australia, since property values in local government areas in Australia have nothing whatsoever to do with the level of local government services provided to the Australian citizens who use the individual properties.
Local government rates for individual properties in local government areas in Australia should be calculated on the basis of the level of local government services provided to individual properties, such as according to the number of Australian citizens who use the individual properties and their ages, in order to allocate the expenses of local governments in Australia to individual properties via local government rates.
For your consideration…
How to fix Australia permanently…